601 La Bomba Sake Bomb by Espinosa Cigars

The 601 La Bomba Sake Bomb is apart of the extensions of the Espinosa Cigars’ 601 La Bomba line. This cigar adds a 4 1/2 x 42 corona size into the La Bomba. The La Bomba line has its origins back with EO Brands, the company co-owned by Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega. The 601 La Bomba was designed to deliver a full strength, full-bodied cigar. After the amicable dissolution of EO Brands by Espinosa and Ortega, the 601 line would be absorbed into the Espinosa Cigars portfolio. Since then, Espinosa Cigars has put some considerable focus on promoting the 601 La Bomba line. Recently I had an opportunity to smoke the 601 La Bomba Sake Bomb. The La Bomba line has proven to be an excellent line by Espinosa Cigars – and without a doubt the Sake Bomb is the best release to date under this line.

According to Espinosa, the blend to the 601 La Bomba Sake is not the same as the regular La Bomba. The blend was changed up a bit because of the smaller, thinner size with all of the ligero that was contained in the 601 La Bomba line. All of the cigars in the La Bomba name are plays on “bombs” and Sake Bomb refers to the name of a cocktail made by pouring sake into a shot glass and dropping it into a glass of beer.

Without further ado, let’s break down the 601 La Bomba Sake Bomb and see what this cigar brings to the table. Since this was based on a pre-release sample, we will default to our pre-review format to share our thoughts and perspectives on the cigar. Once the cigar is released, we will revisit this cigar and provide an assessment rating and score.

Blend Profile

The 601 La Bomba is a Nicaraguan puro. As mentoned, while this shares a similar profile, the blend was modified for the corona format.

The 601 La Bomba Sake Bomb has a chocolate brown wrapper with a somewhat oily complexion. It contains the long “fuse” that is a staple of the core 601 La Bomba line. There are some visible veins and visible wrapper seams.

The pre-release Sake Bomb was unbanded, but it will feature a similar yellow and black footer band that is a part of the core 601 La Bomba line. The name of the vitola “Sake Bomb” is also on that footer bandPreparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap as opposed to “pulling off the fuse”. Once the cap was clipped I proceeded with the pre-light draw ritual. The dry draw provided a nice mix of chocolate and pepper spice. Overall, I was quite pleased with the pre-light draw of the Sake Bomb. At this point I was ready to light up the Sake Bomb and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

Overall, the Sake Bomb is not going to be a cigar that is going to deliver a lot in the way of flavor transitions. This is a cigar that is going to deliver great flavors from start to finish.

The Sake Bomb started out with a shot of black pepper. The black pepper receded and gave way to a mix of natural tobacco, chocolate, and earth. The black pepper provided a strong spice on the retro-hale. The black pepper was also prominent on the finish. Even though the finish was peppery, I was very surprised how smooth the finish was. In fact, this was a very smooth cigar from start to finish.

As the Sake Bomb moved through the first half, the earth notes became primary. The pepper, chocolate, and natural tobacco flavors were secondary. The natural tobacco provided a slight touch of sweetness which really contributed to the flavor profile. As the Sake Bomb entered the second half, the black pepper also emerged in the forefront. The second half was classic Nicaraguan earth and spice. The Sake Bomb continued to remain smooth right until the end. The resulting nub was outstanding – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The construction was impeccable on this cigar – and it is reflected on both the burn and draw. I found the Sake Bomb’s burn line to remain straight from start to finish – requiring very little in the way of touch-ups. The resulting ash was mostly white in color with some darker streaks in it. There was virtually no flaking on this cigar. The burn temperature was ideal. I found the Sake Bomb to be a slow burning cigar, but it resulted in no harshness whatsoever
The draw had a touch of resistance to it. This is something that I view as a positive. This made the Sake Bomb a real enjoyable cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

Strength-wise, I found the Sake Bomb to be the strongest cigar of the 601 La Bomba line. There is no doubt this cigar starts off at full strength and I think it’s fair to say, it hits full strength plus in the second half. The flavors have a lot of depth of them – and I also assessed this cigar as being full-bodied. While this cigar is a powerhouse, In other words, you get the best of the strength and flavor of this cigar – something I’ve seen very few cigars do when a cigar delivers this much power.

Final Thoughts

The 601 La Bomba Sake Bomb might just be the best vitola under the core 601 La Bomba line. This cigar is a home run in terms of the overall cigar experience. As mentioned, this is one of those full strength, full-bodied cigars which provides one of the smoothest smokes on the pallet. While I have found the other La Bombas to have smoothness as well, this one was the smoothest of the lot. Given this is a very “full” cigar, this is not going to be a cigar for the novice, and it is going to be more of a niche cigar in terms of experienced cigar enthusiasts who go for a fuller cigar. As for myself, while this won’t be my morning smoke, this is going to be a cigar I smoke again – and it has all of the makings of being box worthy and beyond.